Aretha Franklin Ready To Record New Album, Says Health Is ‘Fine Now’

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: Singer Aretha Franklin performs onstage at the 10th Annual TV Land Awards at the Lexington Avenue Armory on April 14, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images

The Queen of Soul is feeling “fine now” after undisclosed health issues forced her to take the summer off touring, and now she’s ready to hit the studio.

In a recent media event, Aretha Franklin discussed details of her forthcoming album, which has both Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and veteran producer Don Was lined up to produce, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Franklin revealed that she plans to start recording the new album in Detroit this November with her all-star team that also includes label exec., Clive Davis. Davis was behind Franklin’s platinum-selling album Who’s Zoomin’ Who that spawned off hits including “Freeway of Love” and “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves.”

“Mr. Davis said he doesn’t just want another CD,” she told the press. “He wants a blockbuster event.”

She said the yet-to-be-titled album will include a mixture of original hits, as well as covers like Dinah Washington’s “Teach Me Tonight” and Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know.”

Though still declining to reveal specifics regarding her health scare earlier this summer, Franklin did say that the issue required treatments that left her bed-ridden, but that “everything is fine now” and she’s “good to go.”

Because of her recent time off performing live, Franklin is trying to get back in tip-top vocal shape for this new recording.

“I’m doing a lot of singing right now, just getting my voice back to where it was,” she said, adding: “I hope to have a really smashing CD that everyone loves. Including me first.”